Steve Kornicki Composer and Musician

Horizontal Color Forms

Composed by Steve Kornicki

HORIZONTAL COLOR FORMS #12 "72 TONES", for flute, violin, viola and percussionist (2005)
(5 minutes, 36 seconds)

World premiere by the New York Miniaturist Ensemble at the Chelsea Art Museum in New York City (December 2005)

Also performed at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in New York City, along with the premiere of Karlheinz Stockhausen's "First Natural Durations," by the New York Miniaturist Ensemble ( February 2006)

Download MIDI version for flute, violin, viola and percussion (5MB MP3)

Score available from Media Press.

Each of the HORIZONTAL COLOR FORMS (HCF) pieces deals with the synergetic combination of individual parts composed one at a time in a horizontal manner. These pieces all result from pre-determined structures and processes that are the result of improvisational composition using computer sequencing. The horizontal aspect refers to the process of composing each line completely through while being aware of the other parts, but allowing the parts to be free of each other – a process of “real time” composing and a certain amount of randomness. All of the pieces’ initial pitch structures consist of 12-tone rows (the arrangement of the twelve notes of the chromatic scale in a particular order). These rows are chosen for their tonal relations and combinations and are stretched out over long durations through repetition of the individual tones (this repetition relating back to Arnold Schoenberg’s original concept of 12-tone theory). The resulting sound is of overlapping harmonic textures that can be heard as an apparently static surface of sound with a flux of textural elements and overlapping dynamic patterns beneath (musical effects at particular points: crescendos, rhythmic contrast, accents, instrument entrances, etc). These harmonic textures create the color aspect of the music and are a constant flow of transformation and change within this “stasis in motion”. These qualities give the pieces an ambient sound that can be compared to some 20th century minimal, early renaissance and baroque music, serving on an intense appreciation level or as an environmental experience. The self-similarity and ambience of the music may also create a “suspended time frame” effect for the listener.

In HCF #12, there are three instrumental lines that play sustained tones exclusively while the percussionist maintains a pulse by playing steady sixteenth notes throughout.

The melodic instruments play through 12-tone rows that are constructed from cycles of 4ths:

flute = Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, B, E, A, D, G, C, F Bb

violin = G, C, F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, B, E, A, D

viola = D, G, C, F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, B, E, A

Each part consists of 24 sustained tones with the instruments playing each note of the row twice in order - (12 x 2 = 24 notes each). The number of actual sounding pitches in the piece is - (24 x 3 = 72). Each tone in the piece has a dynamic configuration of ppp-crescendo-mf-decrescendo-ppp generating a wave-like effect. Each instrument plays with minimal vibrato.

The percussionist plays 2 woodblocks with soft rubber or soft yarn mallets for a muted effect. The percussionist begins and ends the piece and establishes the pulse by performing steady sixteenth notes throughout at a dynamic level of mp-mf with occasional forte accents.

ANALYSIS : The system of music composition that I developed in late 2004/early 2005 for the HORIZONTAL COLOR FORMS series displays clear and concise processes that occur within the music. The pieces are about the processes and reveal an obvious interplay of harmonic motion through the layering of individual tones. HORIZONTAL COLORS FORMS #12 in particular is music that is concerned primarily with this type of system. HCF #12 uses the circle of 4ths as its foundation and each of the 3 voices moves through the complete circle with the repetition of tones as illustrated above. Musical interest is created through texture and dynamics. Harmonic motion is given precedence in a manner that is actually heard and perceived by the listener because of the “harmony generating” nature of the compositional writing and process. The piece avoids tertian harmony in favor of a new harmonic motion created from the stretching out of the 12 tones over a long duration. The HCF series can provide a model for a new form of listening to music through the purity of the compositional processes and the auditory effects (i.e. the music is about the tones and harmonic motion).

Above text notarized in Pennsylvania – 10/28/05